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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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^onesi ant) ©cr^eiS 

for 

C^risstmasi 

Bv A. A, G. 



BOSTON 

CUPPLES AND KURD 

Wc\t Algonquin press. 



J 



SONGS AND VERSES FOR 
CHRISTMAS. 



SONGS AND VERSES 



FOR 



CHRISTMAS 



BY 



ADELE A. GLEASON 



5^ 




BOSTON 

CUPPLES AND KURD 
(3rte ^ls0nqiim Press 

1 888. 



Copyright, 1888, 
By a. a. GLEASON. 

A a -rights reserved 



To 

MV FA THER, 

Whose Daily Life is an Unwritten Poem. 



CONTENTS 








Page 


My Fathe?-''s Kiss 1 1 


The Old Love . 








12 


The New Love . 








13 


The Water Lily 








14 


My Friend 








15 


To S. L. C. 








16 


The Birch Tree 








17 


The Falling Star 








19 


The Lighthouse 








20 


The King's Tears 








21 


Comrade . 








23 


Not There 








24 


Butterflies 








26 


2 wo Angels 








27 


An Old Song . 








28 


The Tiger Lily and the Rose 






29 


The Kiss . 


. 






• 31 



Conte?its. 











I'age 


White Loves 32 


Trilliiim . . ... 






12> 


The Violet 








34 


Untilled . . . 








35 


Thy Crowfi 








36 


Good Night/ . 








37 


At the Gate 








Z^ 


The White Cloud . 








39 


The Blackened Branch 








40 


The Storm 








41 


The Basil Pot . . ^ 








42 


Bine Lake 








43 


Tempted . 








44 


Pardon 








46 


A Letter . 








48 


Cupid's Sofig . 








• 49 


Trust 








50 


Alone 








• 51 


Sealed Orders . 








53 


Thine Eyes 








54 


August 








55 


The Captive 








56 


The Orchard . 








57 



Contents. 











Page 


Bivouac 58 


Buddha^ s Mirror 








59 


Suspicion .... 








60 


Bivisible . 








61 


The Buttercup Song 








62 


Consider the Lily 








63 


Dawn 








65 


In Church 








66 


Autumn Moods. I. . 








69 


Friends 








70 


Autiwin Moods. II. 








71 


Autumn Moods. III. 








72 


VAmi jfean 








• 73 


The Astral Body 








• 74 


Guilty or not Guilty 








75 


Parted . 








76 


Grafti?ig . 








77 


Court Martial . 








78 


A Song for a Sweetheart 








• 79 


Paradise . 








. 80 


The Prepared Table 








81 


An Old Song . 








. 82 


My Loneliness . 








. 83 



10 



Contents. 



Dreams . 
Gray Hair 

Crowned . 

The Will of the Spirit 

My Prayer 

To Edith . 



Page 
84 

86 
87 

89 
90 



MY FATHER'S KISS. 

First born, the lips have no impress. 
Shapeless the clay, no thought inwrought. 
Eyes learn the first to look, and then to weep. 
But blessed are the lips that keep, 
Through life, as seal-mark set in wax, 
The half-creative kiss of fatherhood. 
No other kiss can fit that mould, 
Nor can it break until Death's hold 
Break the sealed letter of a life that's writ 
From earthly fatherhood to that above ! 



12 Softgs and Verses. 



THE OLD LOVE. 



As to the oak trees, all the cruel winter, 
The dead leaves hold, 

Frost bitten, 

Storm smitten, 

Snow laden — faithful. 

Till, at the springtime, 

Sweet airs and sunshine 

Come to woo 

Leafage new, 

They silently fall. 

Still as a breath. 

Faithful till death ! 
So will I go, unreproachful ; for sweeter 
Is new love than old. 



Sofigs and Verses. IJ 



THE NEW LOVE. 

Sing I the new love, 

The fresh love, 

The fair love, 

New as the sunrise 

And fair as the dawn. 

Pluck now the fresh rose. 

The fair rose. 

The sweet rose, 

For who knows 

How soon it may fade ? 

Sing now the new song, 

The gay song, 

The bright song. 

Sing with the same voice 

That once sang the old. 



14 Songs and Verses. 

The song is old, 
The love is cold, 
The story told. 



THE WATER LILY. 

Did fair Ophelia's dying face 

Sink down among thy level leaves ? 
Is it the breath of her despair 
. Thy pearly petal softly breathes ? 

Then, growing epitaph, o'er sweet, 

The level water is thy rest, 
Thou canst not from it raise thy head, — 

So drooped Ophelia's on her lover's breast. 



Songs and Ve?'ses. jc 

Thy purity and sweetness mute, 

Thy feeble stem, still speak 
That lily maid forlorn, who knew 

Only to die, when hearts did break. 



MY FRIEND. 

The pine tree's virtue hath thy soul ! 
It scorns the winter and the sun's neglect, 
And keeps as brave a color for the storm 
As any maple that the May can deck, 
For June and sunny blue of sky. 
Yet is there mourning in its loyal heart, 
For what I know not, yet I hear it groan. 
What passeth .? that it makes a moan .? 



i6 Son^s and Verses. 



To S. L. C. 

O SWEET, brave eyes, that look straight on 

In destiny's supreme despite, 
And carry to the darkest heart, 

Asked or unasked, > the holy light 
Of love, untouched by care 
Of comprehension or return ! 

Look on, brave eyes, immortal look, 
Unsullied by the world's restraint ; 

Not choosing measured looks to dole, 
This one for sinner, and that for saint ; 

Alike as flowers that bloom the same 

For funeral or for wedding fane. 



Songs and Verses. if 

Seek out thy royal peers — O eyes ! 

Nor heed the scoffer's evil thought. 
Ye know rewards that still in vain 

Such " meaning glances " never bought. 
Look on and up, in your own truth, 
O eyes that are immortal youth ! 



THE BIRCH TREE. 

As the birch tree, growing taller 

By the running of the stream, 
Sends across its darkling bosom, 

From its branch, a silver gleam ; — 
So thy presence bright leans o'er me, 

So I feel the silver glow 
Of thy brighter face, that, smiling, 

Shines upon me as I go. 



l8 Songs and Verses. 

And we knew what says the birch tree, 

And we knew what says the stream : 
" I will touch you," say its branches ; 

" I am running," says the stream ; 
"But I cannot bend me lower ; " 

" And I cannot raise my heart ;" 
" Winds that leave me " — 
" Drouth of summer " — 

Hold the thirst and wave apart. 

When the winds come in the Autumn, 

When the rains flush up the streams, 
Down will dip those silver branches 

Where but now their shadow leans. 
Then the stream shall rush on faster, 

As it every leaf would steal ; — 
Dost thou feel the storm on-coming 

As I now the flood tides feel ? 



Sougs a?id Verses. ig 



THE FALLING STAR. 

The thoughts of God that reach the earth 

Are like His stars that fall : 
They die before they touch the place 

That is the grave of all. 
But when they pass they lead the soul 

To seek their place afar, 
To see His stars in fixity, . 

And love them where thev are. 



20 Songs and Verses. 



THE LIGHTHOUSE. 



Out of the storm and the darkness 

To the peace of thy heart would I come, 

Into the shine of thy presence,. 
My beautiful light, my sun ! 

Shine on me, warm me, and light me, 
Let me read my fate in thine eyes, — 

My tired, bewildered spirit 
Unto their glory flies. 

No ! Like the bird at the window. 
Where the cold glass smites its heart, 

Thine eyes are the fatal glory, 
Thy smile plays the cruel part. 



Songs and Verses. 21 



THE KING'S TEARS. 

They say King David, on his throne 
Amidst his purple, muffled up his face 

And wept. 
His armed men came forth, and drew 
Their swords as shelter for his royal form 

In tears. 
And every slave that bore his mark 
Bowed down beneath his feet, nor dared look up 

For fear. 
And all the maidens that he loved 
Did shed hot tears upon their white arms 
thrown 

Upon the earth. 
Then came the magi of the realm 
To know by art the monarch's secret pain, — 

And failed, 



22 Songs and Verses. 

Then did there step from out the ranks 
A maiden fairer than them all, who said, 

'"Tis I. 
"They who withstand the king, I know 
" Shall surely die. His royal tears condemn. 

"Tis I." 
Then spake tlie king, his mantle dropped, 
" I weep because she is the first I kissed, 

" Nor vdse. 
" Had she refused me, though a king, 
" I would forgive ; but that she kissed and 
loved me not 

" Is death." 



Songs and Vgrses. 2j 



COMRADE. 

Comrade, leave me ! It is treason 
For you but to turn your head 

Thus to look on me, the wounded, 
Midst the dying and the dead. 

Still the banner, never taken, 
Floats before my fainting eyes ; 

Never shaken 

Still those battlements arise. 

Do not lean o'er me to listen 
Tho' I moan a loyal word. 

Flash and glisten, 

Lifted still, thy broken sword ! 



24 Songs and Verses. 

This the last word that I utter 
A Dieu, I slowly pray. 

Stand and mutter 

Adieu, then march away. 



NOT THERE. 



The roses on my bosom seem to listen for his 

step, 
The clock strikes on the passing hour, not 

coming ! not come yet ! 
Is it my dress that rustles, or is it the maple 

leaves ? 
Or is it the winded dripping, from out the 

rainful eaves ? 



So7tgs and Ferses. 2^ 

Faintly " Come," I call ; and blush, for no 

knock was there ! 
What is it that keeps me waiting ? I know he 

is not there. 



Not there beyond the doorway, where my fool- 
ish heart will be. 

Not there where I see the shadow under the 
maple tree.. 

Not there, not there, my lover; but here in 

heart and brain, — 
The mystical real presence, never to go again. 



26 Songs and Verses. 



BUTTERFLIES. 

Butterflies, butterflies, yellow and crimson, 
How do ye mock me in fluttering by. 

Seems ye would lure from the fair arm of 
Psyche 
Even the fabled one with ye to fly. 

Butterflies, butterflies, purple and silver, 
Chasing the thistledown over the grass. 

Kisses of lovers, or sleep dreams of children. 
Wandering flowers, ye seem as ye pass. 

Tent, Sept, ist. 



Songs and Verses. 2^ 



TWO ANGELS. 

Angel of the parting day 

Stay while I pray, 
For thy face is royal-bright. 

I fear the night. 
I beseech thee, kiss for me 

When thou shalt see, 
Dawn's angel ; e'er he come 

His day be won. 



28 Songs a?id Verses. 



AN OLD SONG. 

Yes, forget me, when we're parted, 
Like a song, or jest, or dream, — 

Nay, I would not be too real — 
Say at parting, " It did seem ! " 

When we meet again, remember 
Just enough to make me dear, 

As an old song, that surprises 
The half-listening, willing ear. 

If you dream, forbear to tell it, 
So my name in silence wear. 

And the meaning of thy dreaming, 
Both alike — we will forbear. 



Songs and Verses. 2g 

If you dream, forbear to tell it, 
Howe'er sweet the meaning be. 

I'm the dream and I the meaning. 
Ah ! thou hast forgotten me. 

Tent, Sept., 1885. 



THE TIGER LILY AND THE ROSE. 

Once in a royal garden, its chalice sunlit fire, 
A knightly tiger lily did woo in its desire 

A rose that on a trellis near 

Did bloom and blush there, higher ! 

O faint, fair rose, thy petals drop into that 
lily's heart, 
He knows not that ye die to give — while so 
ye are apart. 



JO Songs and Verses. 

Forlorn and leafless hangs the rose 
And full the tiger lily's heart. 



And at the dusk his petals, bronze and gold, 

Will proudly close 

Upon the perfumed fading petals of the rose. 
And this the love I sing to thee 

Of lily and of rose. 



Songs and Verses. ji 



THE KISS. 

Yes, I hear thee undenying, 
I did kiss thee for love's trying. 
Forth the barbed arrow sprang 
At the fatal bowstring's twang. 
I did kiss, for fond love's trying. 
Leave me now, for love is ciying. 
What can I, though undenying.? 



32 So?igs and Verses. 



WHITE LOVES. 

Upon the snowy Alpine heights the Edelweiss 
doth grow ; 

Upon the fervid August floods the water lily 
blow; 

The same white meaning to my soul, from fire 

and from snow. 
For Nature hath, like human hearts, its passive 

flowers twain — 
One blooms when life is at its flood, and one 

in death's rich pain. 
Which shall I take from out thy hand when 

we shall meet again .-' 



Songs and Vgrses. jj 



TRILLIUM. 



Efflorescence fair ; triune whiteness ! 
Thou art among the flowers the Sabbath witness. 
The Virgin loves thee, for thou bloom'st un- 
kissed 

Among the other flowers thy perfume missed. 

They woo thee not ; but softly say, 

It is the Sabbath, she hath bloomed to-day. 



^4- Songs and Verses. 



THE VIOLET. 

He took from off my weary heart 
The faded flowers of love's gone life, 

And, freshly blown and royal grown, 
He gave, the purple violet. 

Not the cold gleam of amethyst 
Salutes me yet : I still may let 

Thee give me at our tryst, my friend. 
One flower, the royal violet. 

Thy proud humility well suits 
Its regal tint, its humble pose. 

Ah ! friend, I yield the purple, tho' 
Thou canst not wear the rose. 



Songs and Verses. jj- 



UNTILLED. 



Two roses, fragrant, wild, and fresh ! 
Their torn stems pleading for the wayside bush 
That bore them, out of stony earth, 
Unowned, untilled, — but fairer so for me 
Than garden bloom, which hath its price. 
Give me naught else ; nor ever tame 
An impulse, wild and lawless tho' it be, 
To any dexterous service wrought 
For promise, not for memory. 



J<5 Songs and Verses, 



THY CROWN. 

Thy forehead whitens ! 

Year by year its right 

To wear the chaplet 

There, where sweats of pain 

And work are chrysms 

Better than baptismal font hath given, 

Has come ; I set thereon 

The shadeless crown ! 



Songs and Verses. 3*1 



GOOD NIGHT! 



Oh ! what is sadder than to say Good night 
To empty air, and feel the blight 
Of silence answering to the tone, 
And know thereby — I am alone ! 

Alone! still did I say Good night, dear love ! 
Through distance lone my poor heart strove 
In words that fall upon the empty air — 
Good night, dear Ave, good night. 



j8 Songs and Verses. 



AT THE GATE. 

I DREAMED that I lay dying, 
And my lover came to me, 

And on my lips and forehead 
Did set his kisses three. 

And, while my flying spirit 
Lingered to taste this bliss, 

There closed again the gateway 
Between that world and this. 



Songs and Verses. jg 



THE WHITE CLOUD. 

A CLOUD that never rose from out the sea, 
A cloud whose ermined majesty 
No swamp nor reptile-breeding pool 
Gave birth to. Oh ! white scroll, 
That like an alabaster seal 
Marks in the blue a grand appeal 
To those that shall be pure in soul ! 



4-0 Songs and Verses. 



THE BLACKENED BRANCH. 

The blackened pine tree's dying branch 
Lies stark across the rising moon. 

So stands the tree ; the moon shall rise 
In unmasked glory soon. 

So, dark across thy shining life 

My fate's black arm doth plainly lie. 

My fate and I shall stand alone, 
Thy life shall pass us by. 



Songs ana Verses. ^i 



THE STORM. 

As bends the tree in the wind 

Before the rain, 
So do I bow, when thou comest, 

In sudden pain. 
I know thou comest for love, 

Hopeless again. 
To the storm of thy grief I yield. 

Not in disdain 
Do I hold to my roots : I repose ; 

I stand the strain. 



42 Songs and Verses. 



THE BASIL POT. 

So now he hath forgotten all ! 

'Tis well. I said he must. 
I wonder that I wish to take 

The dry root from the dust 
To see if it is dead, forsooth. 

Can my proud heart e'er be 
A basil pot in which to nurse 

A memory of thee ? 



Sofigs and Verses. 4^ 



PINE LAKE. 

Beam of the golden sun, kiss her gold hair, 
Kiss it as I would 

Were I but there. 
Wind from the beech tree, say some sweet word, 
Say it as I would 

Were I but heard. 
Colors of sunset, catch up her bright smiles. 
Reflect them upon me 

And count not the miles. 
Shine of the mystic moon, creep to her pillow, 
Lie there and dream with her, 

Would I could also. 
Light of her rising star, light her hopes for her. 
Light of her setting star, 

Take her fear from her. 



44 Songs and Verses. 

Strength of a stronger heart, reach low and 

love her, 
As doth the word of her 

Friend and her lover. 



TEMPTED. 



Tempted! Yes; my soul must meet il 
Would to-morrow need not come ! 

All the long night I rehearse it, — 
Would to God it need not come ! 

Calm I am ; it is not real ; 

Half it seems to me a dream. 
When the stated time hath brought it, 

Will the dreaded thing be seen ? 



So?igs and Verses. 45 

Seen as now it glares upon me, 

Tempts me with its eyes and breath, 

Calls me to its bosom, saying 
" Love me, tho' I be thy death." 



Cease, prophetic voice within me. 

Cursed be the voice ! It crieth, 
"That temptation shall o'erthrow thee, 

By its subtilties thou diest." 



Rise, my angel ! come and shield me 
Bare thy sword, my naked breast 

Shall receive thy weapon, rather 
Than beneath that shield to rest. 



/f.6 Songs a?id Verses. 

So, no morrow shall awake me. 

So, I need not go to meet 
That which surely shall o'erthrow me. 

Trample me with cruel feet. 



PARDON. 



Nay, if thou wilt forgive me, 

Do it without a plea ! 
Let me see how royal thou art 

If thou wouldst humble me ! 
Dost know that the cloak of forgiveness 

Is the prophet's seamless garb ? 
He only leaves it to others 

When he goes heavenward. 



So?igs and Verses. ^7 

Wait not for my tears to compel thee. 

Thou canst not heal me so. 
Before my pitiful penance 

Let thy rich forgiveness flow. 
So shalt thou gain, while I'm losing 

What is wasted if thou delay. 
Celebrated, a king with pardon, 

Thy coronation day! 



4-8 Songs and Verses, 



A LETTER. 

I MISS thee ! yet would not recall. 

As one who largess from a king receives 

And cannot count his treasure ; only grieves 

To see the royal presence vanish out of sight. 

And, when the great-one's gone indeed, 

Counts up the sum of blessing with delight, 

Nor ever thinks to ask for more. 

So hast thou left thy love's and wisdom's store 

For me to count alone, nor dare to ask 

For thy return. 



Songs and Verses. 4g 



CUPID'S SONG. 

Oh ! I mind me of the kisses 

That I've spent for love's brief blisses ! 

Oh ! I mind me of the smart 

When the throbbing lips did part. 

O ! I mind me of the art 

Used to barb ihe arrow's dart. 

O ! I mind me, in love's mart, 

How to match a kiss and heart. 



^o Sofigs a7id Verses. 



TRUST. 

What barrier can I set between us ? 

What stronghold find wherein to be ? 

Within what armor, invisible but sure ? 

Or dare to meet thee with the white flag pure ? 

I will ; alone I'll come to meet the fair, 

Not e'en in David's slins: a smooth-cut word. 



So7igs a?id Verses. 5/ 



ALONE. 

Alone ! The merry dancers laugh to see my 

sad amaze. 
" 'Twas turning in the dance, " they cry ; " it is 

enough to craze." 

" A freak," they say, like my wild self, 
To dance alone like some mad elf, 
Among them all in pairs. 

'Tis gone ; and yet I surely felt a form within 

my arms. 
I surely felt its floating hair, lithe waist, and all 

its charms. 
It stepped with me about the floor. 
Its hand in mine a pressure gave, as if the dance 

to check. 
And then — it was no more. 



J2 Songs and Verses. 

Last night I sat upon her grave and called ; 

she would not come. 
I said, " The cruel dead forget, else could they 

not be dumb." 
Nay, I will dance no more to-night ; the music 

is a dirge. 
Ah ! boys, she loved me ; no more wine — 

don't urge. 
No, I would not forget. 



Sojigs and Verses. jj 



SEALED ORDERS. 

I RUN on thine errands, my king, 

Through the fight, and the night, and the 
storm. 

Concealed next my heart is the secret — the 
word, 
That at risk of my hfe must be borne. 

I know not the message my king 

Would have sent ; but I know it may save 
or may slay. 
I bear it in haste, and I bear it with zeal, 

The honor, the trust, is my pay ! 



5^ Songs and Verses 

THINE EYES. 

I READ thine eyes ! 

I know the eager meaning of their glance, 
I know their ecstacy, their solemn trance, 
I know their longing, and the unshed tear, 
I know their keen anxiety, their sudden fear, 
I know their pathos dumb, their dead despair, 
Their hope pathetic and their weary care, 
I know their veiled passion, and, above 
All, I read their secret — love ! 



Songs and Verses. j'j' 



AUGUST. 

In bitter strength of August heat 

I saw a little brook run dry. 
I stopped to count the piteous stones 

Where waves and bubbles once ran high. 



The golden-rod and aster tall 

Stand there amid the stones. 
The resurrection of the brook 



Shines in their golden tones. 



^6 So7igs and Verses. 



THE CAPTIVE. 

I SOMETIMES dream thy head is laid, 
My conqueror, on thy captive's breast, 

And which is victor, which is slave, 
I do not ask ; so let it rest. 

So let it rest, thy captive queen 

Smiles o'er thy bended head to-night, 

And asks, " Who is the victor here ? 
And wherefore was the fight ?" 



Sono^s and Verses. $y 



THE ORCHARD. 

The quiet comfort and the still belief thy pres- 
ence gives 

Is like the strength of orchard trees. 

They shelter from the sun and breeze. 

They bloom so sweetly, not in idle flowers, 

But set their fruit and wait the ripening hours 

Of rain or sun or cloud. 

So do I find thee all love's seasons through : 
for never do 

We ask for more or other fruits 

Than those the tree's first nature suits. 

So wholesome is thy cheer and kindness, friend. 

So will I count its store, nor fear the end 

Of bloom or fruit or shade. 



^8 Songs and Ferses. 



BIVOUAC. 

Bivouac ! bivouac ! calls out the thunder. 

Tented be army and nested be bird ! 
Deep swim the fishes, and, seeking a shelter, 

Fly on the wild herd ! 
Madly the grounded arms fight with the light- 
ning ! _ 

Out fly the birds from the storm-stricken tree ! 
Everything trembles except the fair lilies : 

How peaceful they be ! 



Songs and Verses. jg 



BUDDHA'S MIRROR. 

Strange is the Indian worship. 
The far away Hindoo, devoted 
To rites and symbols fantastic, 
Over his head while praying 
Holds up a mirror for staying 
The image of spirit down coming. 
This will he catch by ablutions 
Poured meanwhile on the mirror. 
Drinking the drops that overflow it, 
Thus doth he taste the immortal. 

Kneeling, I hold up the mirror. 
Bend but an instant above it. 
Tears will I pour there, and, drinking. 
Love shall make me immortal. 



6o Songs a7id Verses. 



SUSPICION. 

The cloud that fades away in blue, 
Nor stays to guard the dying day, 
Hath stolen all my heart away 

With like suspicion of thy love. 

The wind, that erst from bending flowers 
Blew to the east a perfume sweet, 
Has died, and I, or e'er we meet, 

The meaning of thy step will know. 

The shadow of a wandering bird 
Flits o'er the page whereon I read, 
Effacing records — ah ! I need 

Its coaxing: wing: as well for thine. 



Sofigs and Verses. 6i 



INVISIBLE. 

I SEE my heart on yonder tree. 

Ah me ! 
Look if you will, you only see 

On yonder tree, 
A bird's nest filled with snow. 

Ah me ! 

I see my heart on the little brook. 

Ah! look! 
What floats so well on the little brook ? 

Ah ! look ! 
A dead leaf floats upon the brook. 

Ah! look! 



^2 Songs a?id Verses. 



THE BUTTERCUP SONG. 

Thou miser, shy, but brave ! 

How dost thou hold thy gold in such sure way. 

That all the clouding of the darkest day 

But lets thee shine the more ? 

When all the sun goes out, 

And leaves the green in heaviness, 

The hillsides' and the pastures' evenness 

Besodden in dull rain, — 

Like gold on gaming tables plain, 

Thou shinest wanton for the thievins: hand. 



Songs and Verses. 6j 



CONSIDER THE LILY. 

In the burning sun the reapers 

Bind the precious sheaves. 
On their toiUng hands the thistle 

Blood scars leaves. 

Is no wheat without the thistle ? 

Is no harvest without tares ? 
Yet and is the harvest precious ; 

Worth all cares. 

Oh ! ye angels, strong and tender, 

Faithful shall ye be, 
The' the harvest wound the white hands 

That shall reap for me. 



64. Sofigs and Verses. 

But the Lord, who sends the angels, 
Comes, and now I see Him stand. 

And from out thy field a lily 

Plucks He with His blessed hand. 

And I know the vision's meaning — 
That thy field is holy ground ; 

For He smiles upon the harvest 
Where the lily shall be found. 



So?igs and Verses. 6^ 



DAWN. 

Maria, send an angel 

To wake me when 'tis day. 
To rouse me at the dawning, 

To waft my dreams away. 
With wings like white clouds shining, 

With eyes as full of light, 
To bring my soul its dawning, 

To snatch me from the night. 
I shrink into the darkness ; 

I dread the coming day ; 
Its toils and its privations 

Come to meet me on the way. 
Maria ! send an angel 

To wake me when 'tis day. 



66 Songs and Verses. 

Rouse me, as if already, 

In the kingdom that is light, 

I waked to dwell forever 

Where "there shall be no night. 



IN CHURCH. 



When I see him sitting by her 
In their godly pew in church, 
I remember, I remember 
The solemn moonlight's splendor 
When he made the great surrender 
Of all he had to tender 
To one who could not do 
What is now so nicely through, 



Sofigs and Verses. dy 

In the blending two in one. 

(I can now see how 'tis done.) 

But has he ever told her ? 

Is that why the coldest shoulder 

She ever turns toward me, 

And so plainly lets me see 

That she's the happiest woman, 

And he's the happiest one man 

That loved her first and last, 

That loves her sure and fast? 

And I may envy if I will, 

And watch, as from a window-sill. 

The glory of the woman who 

Has known what I have ne'er been 

through, — 
The proffer of the hand of man, 
The bliss that doubtless never can 
Come to the likes o' me ! 



68 Softgs and Verses. 

But only this I'd like to see — 
My lady come with thanks to me 
(And she should very thankful be) 
For that one No, that she must know 
Has brou2:ht her all her bliss below. 



Songs and Verses. 6g 



AUTUMN MOODS. I. 

Something fails from out my heart, 

As the autumn leaf from the winded tree. 

Helpless I stand like a bare, bare branch ! 
Alas ! must the winter be ? 

The green leaves kept me from too much sun 
They died from his burning kiss. 

It smites me now on my branches bare 
Is this the winter ? this ? 



/O Songs and Verses. 



FRIENDS. 

Spring hath wooed the rosy sunrise ! 

Summer loves the golden noon ! 
Autumn knows the purple sunset ! 

But the Winter has the moon ! 



Sons's and Verses. 71 



AUTUMN MOODS. 11. 

How proudly doth the tree shake off her leaves, 
When once they blush beneath the autumn sun, 
And clasp the shining beams of light 
In arched and quivering branches with delight 

As Venus cast from off her rich disguise 
Of silken dress and canopy of lace, 

When Jove, in golden shower, would give 
His last, his mystical embrace ! 



y2 Songs and Verses. 



AUTUMN MOODS. III. 

What is the Spring time, and what is the Sum- 
mer? 

What is their joy and their beauty to me .^ 
Give me the burning regrets of the Autumn ! 

Give me its purple, its crimson-bright tree ! 

Give me the strength of its slow-dying passion; 

Glory of ripening; its heat-scented ground. 

Give me the hopeless, the proud, the rich 

Autumn, 

Who haughtily dies when her treasure is 

found. 



So figs a?id Verses. yj 



L'AMI JEAN. 

It cannot be his fingers 

That touched those silent keys, 
And brought out that twilight music 

To speak with the evening breeze. 
It must have been the sunlight 

That stole through the glorified trees 
And played in echo the bird's clear songs 

Upon the trembling leaves. 

It must have been the sigh that crept 

From out a lonely heart, 
That swept those sweet arpeggios 

Across my listening heart. 



74 So7igs and Verses. 

It must have been a quiet tear 
That melted with the tone, 

And made that last pathetic chord 
Like one sweet w^ord — my home ! 



THE ASTRAL BODY. 

As scent of flowers through the darkness 

stealing 
Is to the soul of beauty more appealing 
Than where in hand-grasp even, all revealing 

Of shape and loveliness, they rest. 

So comes thy spirit's blessed visitation 
Through silent distance, like the invitation 
Of music's prelude for the inspiration 
Of sudden flight or sons^. 



Songs and Versus. J^ 



GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY. 

I DREAMED last night I kissed yon; 

A blessed, sinless dream ; 
To-day I coldly pass you. — 

Thank heaven ! I did but dream. 
Thank heaven ! and yet that kiss, 

That never touched your face, 
Hath gone from out my heart 

And left a tear in place. 



16 Songs and Verses. 



PARTED. 

Miles of land and leagues of sea 
Ne'er had parted you and me. 
Time's often-setting sun, 
Many a fairer one, 
Ne'er 'd do what meeting's done - 
Parted us. 



With a stilling touch of peace, 
And an awed sense of release. 
Meet I the eyes that quelled, 
Clasp I the hand that held. 
Tremble not, since meeting has 
Parted us. 



Sofigs and Verses. ' J J 



GRAFTING. 

Why didst thou ask me for a kiss ? 

Hadst thou no foresight how it then 
would be ? 
As graft upon the wild thorn-tree 

A different nature would take root in me ? 



No more to guard the wayside path, 
With thorny pride defend my flowers. 

I feel the smooth-stemmed branch that 
towers 
A garden tree ; for fruit — not flowers. 



jS Songs a7id Verses. 



COURT MARTIAL. 

With bandaged eyes — Love made them fast- 
I stand condemned, and wait the shot. 
The minutes pass — hast thou forgot 
To give the order — Love ? 

I hear the word — it is reprieve. 
I snatch the bandage ; look around ! 
No armbd men to hold the ground, — 
Only the leader — Love. 

He gives me back my flag and sword, 
And only says — " Condition be, — 
You shall not use them against me. 
For I am — Love." 



Sofigs and Verses. 7P 



A SONG FOR A SWEETHEART. 

Sowing kisses, careless sweetheart ! 

Light as thistle down they fly ! 
Careless sweetheart, in whose garden 

Will be thistles by and by ? 

Careless sweetheart I that way smiling ! 

'Neath whose eyelids, by and by, 
Will the tears creep down and make the 

Heart a desert — sigh on sigh ! 

Careless sweetheart ! arms about him — 
Chains they do not seem, and yet, 

Some day you will wish to break them^ 
He will not forget. 



8o SouFS and Verses. 



PARADISE. 

The river, going onward, 

Its music seemed to steal 
From out the swaying tree-tops, 

That the tender south winds feel. 
The shy, swee-t grass and mosses 

About our feet in flower ! 
For birds it is the spring-time 

For us — it is love's hour. 



Earth mourns her ancient Paradise. 

But, wherever lovers be, 
There flows its magic river, 

There lives its fatal tree. 



Songs and Verses. 8i 

But when love's lips are parted, 
And ere they leave the place, 

Thou canst not find the garden — 
'Tis gone — there is no trace. 



THE PREPARED TABLE. 

They in whose veins a hopeless love 

Hath set its fire 

Are like the feasters at a traitor's board — 

Where every sweet and cup with which the 

table's stored 
Hath poison that doth rankle and make keen 
The appetite, and while they die they seem 
More greedy yet to eat before they die. 



82 Songs afid Verses. 



AN OLD SONG. 

One day Death came a-wooing, 
But I turned him from the door 

With the plea (ah ! sad undoing) 
For one earthly lover more ! 

But should Death come a-wooing 
On this day to my door, — 

I had rather let him in 

Than one earthly lover more. 



Songs and Verses. 83 



MY LONELINESS. 

My loneliness, it is a temple, 
Beautiful and still and grand, 

Where I worship silently 
With lifted hand. 



Solemn, but not sad, not wishful, 
There's an altar ; and the fire 

Sees the blessed sacrifice 
Of earth's desire. 

Blessed peace ! the temple's surety 
From all care or hate or love. 

Built of answered prayers, a lodge 
For heaven's Dove. 



84 Songs and Verses. 



DREAMS. 

Wearily came I at midnight 

To my chamber all alone, 
To the bed on whose white pillow 

A square of moonlight shone. 

I lay me down on that pillow 
With a shuddering, lonely sigh, 

And out of the sleep that came to me 
The vision wandered by : 

It seemed that the cold, white death-bond 

Did calmly hold me there, 
And a presence was round about me, 

That I breathed as I breathe the air. 



SoHFS and Verses. 85 



And the voice of one I had loved 
Spoke like the voice of song, 

And called my repentant spirit 
To the heart I had left so long: 



" Thy faithless will hath perished 
With the death of the dust in thee, 

And the spirit that shall be faithful 
Is set from thy body free. 



" The love that comes from heaven 
To which thy soul hath flown, 

Shall not betray thy dear one 

As thy earth-born heart hath done. 



86 Songs and Verses. 

'' Thou wert only fit in dying 
To love such an one as I, - 

Wait in the heavens for me 
Till I shall also die." 



GRAY HAIR. 



Older ! Oh, yes ; 

And my hair must grow old, 
But one lock will ever be young. 

One lock — shall the secret be told ! 
The tress that you kissed, love, 

Will never grow old. 

Gray-haired ! Oh, yes ; 

And white-haired some day. 



So7igs and Verses. 8y 

But e'en in my coffin 

One lock brown will stay ; 
For the lock that you kissed, love, 

Will never grow gray. 



CROWNED. 



When princes marry there is interchange of 

priceless gifts ; 
And then the throned leads the other up, 
That all may see them equal. 
So may it be with you this marriage day, 
That one already regnant shall make the other 

room upon the throne. 
And both shall rule the kingdom of your love, 

and neither serve. 



88 Songs and Verses. 



THE WILL OF THE SPIRFF. 

Seek not the audible ! 
The voice that cries, distrust ; 
For by the inward ear, those must 

Hear what the spirit wills. 

Voiceless and wordless comes 
The message that shall rule, — 
Mightiest in silence is the school 

Wherein the spirit learns. 

Resist not heaven, when 
A greater force than this 
Which swings the earth thou must resist. 

The spirit's will, obey ! 



Songs and Verses. 8g 



MY PRAYER. 

Not a word : in silence Iioly 

Do I pray for thee, 

All my heart-strength, tense and life-strong 

Thus my prayer shall be. 

And the Christ-heart, tender, gracious, 

Feels the thrill I lend, 

Answers with the gift eternal, 

Not with that I send ; 

And the love of God, all sacred, 

Blots me out ; and so 

With a reverent, glad submission 

Out af sight I go. 



go Songs and Verses. 



TO EDITH. 

Every bird must die some morning, 

Die of a shot, in sudden pain, 
Die a starveling, or maybe frozen, 

Die in the snow, or the heat, or the rain. 
Die as it flies to lands of summer, 

Die as it sits on its loveful nest. 
Die when it seeks its mate at spring-time. 

Or when its throatful song is best ! 

But, alas for the bird that lies in the meadow 
And slowly dies of a broken wing ; 

It hath flown the highest and sung the sweetest 
That dies at last from a broken wing. 



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